V19 
-opv 1 



SPEECH 



OF 



/• 



HON. WM. W. VALIC OF NEW YORK, 



ON THE 



RESOLUTION REPORTED BY THE COMMITTEE OF ELECTIONS IN THE CON- 
TESTED-ELECTION CASE FROM KANSAS TERRITORY. 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 17, 1856. 




WASHINGTON: 
PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 
. 1856. 



<:^*^ 
iA 



lilOJO J • 



KANSAS CONTESTED ELECTION. 



Mr. VALK said: 

Mr. Speaker: The subject of tlie Kansas con- 
tested election has been for some time promi- 
nently before this House, and it has elicited from 
various gentlemen such expressions of opinion 
and decision as to them has doubtless seemed 
proper and conclusive upon the merits of the 
case. I have given to the debate thus far a very 
close attention, and have endeavored, in all pos- 
sible calmness, and without undue influences, to 
reach the goal of truth. The process has not 
been unattended with difficulty, nor has the task 
been easy; for in many instances bold assumption 
has usurped the place of fact, and many wishes 
have fathered thoughts which, but for the undue 
zeal of over ardent temperaments, would never 
have become words in mockery of justice. I am, 
sir, but a child in legislative experience; nor ain 
I gifted with the power of eloquence, to fix the 
judgment or control the will; but I can speak the 
language of my own convictions, and 

" nothing extenuate, . 

Nor set down aught in malice." 

In my opinions, sir, I am in conflict, I presume, 
with nearly all my honorable colleagues, and this 
misfortune, if it be one, has attended me since the 
commencement of our present session ; but much 
as I regret differences, I am un.dcr no anxiety to 
reconcile them, or to soften down asperities by 
any concession to the morbid prejudices or con- 
_ceits of any man. I profess, sir, to be keenly 
sensible of my obligations and responsibilities to 
the whole country, and entertain a very decided 
idea, that I occupy tlioposition of a national Rep- 
resentative, bound to regard the States of this 
Union as equals, and the Territories as the com- 
mon property of them all. I am here as a citizen 
of the United States, and in that capacity I feel 
the pressure of my allegiance to be due the whole; 
for in every one of them I am guarantied the 
same rights, immunities, and privileges. 

We know, sir, that soon after the appointment 
of the standing committees of the House, a ma- 
jority of the Committee of Elections presented 



here a resolution by the honorable gentleman 
from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Hickman.] It was in 
these words: 

"Resolved, Tliat in the Kansas contested-election case the 
Committee of Elections be, and are hereby, empowered to 
send for persons and papers." 

It is this resolution, sir, which ,has been de- 
bated, and upon the issue presented in it of send- 
ing to a far distant Territory "for persons and 
papers," that the discussion has arisen as to the 
questions raised in admitting to his seat here 
General J. W. Whitfield, as the Delegate from 
Kansas. These questions embrace the right of 
General Whitfield to his position by virtue of his 
election, and the validity of the Territorial Legis- 
lature by which the law was passed under which 
he was elected. To determine these points, a 
majority of the committee modestly asked for 
very extraordinary power, and have vigorously 
defended the propriety and necessity of proceed- 
ing in their determination. It was not sufficient 
that General Whitfield had prima facie evidence 
of his right and title to a seat upon this floor, 
nor was it regarded as of any importance that the 
Legislature of Kansas had prescribed the time 
and mode of holding the electioiv Governor 
Reeder, the newspapers, and not a few modern 
Gullivers, had i-aised the cry of fraud. The 
Legislature was a fraud; its acts were conse- 
quently void, because passed by an "assembly 
of usurpers;" and General Whitfield was but the 
creature of " bowie-knives and border ruffians." 

The honorable gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. 
BiXGiiAM,] who addressed the House on the 6th 
instant, docs not believe that the power of the 
House ciin be questioned in its authority to give 
the committee all they ask for. He regards the 
whole matter as narrowed down to the inquiry, 
whether a case has been made out which author- 
izes the investigation demanded, and whether 
"sending for persons and papers" is the best 
mode of conducting the investigation. Is it, or 
is it not.? that is the " entire question "in all " its 
length and breadth." It is so fixed by the hon- 
orable gentleman from Ohio, and he makes out 



the " case" without any difficulty or inconve- 
nience whatever. "With a facility of belief that 
surpasses the credulity of ordinary men, the con- 
clusion has long since been reached, that the 
Kansas Legislature was a "fraud," and that 
Whitfield is but the lesser " humbug" of the two. 

In the rcrmarks wliich I purpose making as an 
ansv/er to the assumptions of those gentlemen 
who have expressed their opinions adverse to the 
sitting Delegate, I do not intend to confine my- 
self wholly to one person, though I am free to 
say, that as a reply, I pi-efer meeting the gentle- 
man from Ohio; and to his argument, if such it 
can be called, I oppose not only the convictions 
of my own mind, but the stern array of facts, as 
stubborn in their character and as forcible in their 
illustration as any that have been put forth by the 
sympathizers with, and opponents of, the so-called 
" wrongs and outrages" in the Territory of 
Kansas. 

How comes it, sir, that this Kansas contested- 
election case is here at all ? Upon what testimony 
(for I will not call it evidence) are we now sum- 
ming up the merits of either Whitfield or Rceder, 
and upon what "certiorari" isthedispute brought 
into this Representative Hall? It is not upon the 
]>etition of the people of that distant Territory. 
It is not upon the complaint of their local legisla- 
tive body. It is not upon anything duly authen- 
ticated and solemnly presented that a majority of 
the Committee of Elections has decided to come 
before tins House, and ask for power to send two 
thousand miles for persons and papers. It is not 
upon any sworn document or upon the majesty 
of an oath that we are asked for this extraordinary 
grant, but it is upon the unsupported and unqual- 
ified statements of ex-Governor Reeder alone, 
who presents to this body a memorial of his mis- 
fortunes and griefs, and prays us to unseat Gen- 
eral Whitfield, and puthhn (Reeder) in the vacant 
place. Sir, since the organic law was given to 
Kansas, and she became thus subject to her Ter- 
ritorial Legislature, the bitter waters of strife have 
not ceased to flov>r within her borders, and in 
every corner of this land has there been kindled 
the watch-fires of a zealous fanaticism. In its 
wisdom Congress gave the actual residents of the 
Territory t\fc power to make their own laws and 
to regulate their own domestic affairs. But from 
the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill and the 
repeal of the Missouri restriction, there has been 
heard from one end of the non-slaveholding States 
to the other, the dismal howl and wailing of the 
especial guardians of freedom, lest by any possi- 
bility slaveholders might go into Kansas, and the 
Terrritory thus become in time a slaveholding 
State. ■ This key explains many mysteries, and 
points out the animus of all the agony that has 
been sent forth in newspapers and pamphlets all 
over the country, as well as on tliis floor in 
speeches void of sound argument, but full of 
declamation. 

I have said that upon no other testimony than 
that furnished in the memorial of A. H. Reeder 
does a majority of the Committee of Elections 
come into this House and ask for a grant of 
unusual power. This memorial was di-awn up 



in this city, and bears date the 12th of February, 
1856. It does not come from the people of the 
Territory, nor is there any evidence that they 
sanctioned it in any manner. It is simply Reeder 
complaining of Whitfield's eleiltafcrr, and clamiing 
to be entitled to i-epresent the Twffitory of Kansas 
in this Congress in Whitfield 's place. It assumes 
to speak for the " qualified voters of Kansas," 
and to be based upon information and belief as to 
the matters and things therein set forth. It is 
Reeder pleading in his own behalf, and telling 
this House a dismal tale of Whitfield's "pre- 
tenses," and his own justification. 

Upon the presentation hei-e of this memorial 
by the hortorable gentleman from Cennsylvania, 
[Mr. Florence,] he moved afs commitment to 
the Committee of Election^ antf there it went for 
examination. There is not a word in the memo- 
rial indicating any desire on the part of Reeder 
that " persons and papers" should be sent for. 
He tells his story, and that is the whole of it. 
Now, there is a maxim familiar to us a,ll, which 
says, there is right and justice in " hearing the 
other side." Reeder's statements inay be true, 
though they are not made under oath; but what 
does Whitfield answer? Nothing to the memo- 
rial, for that is addressed to the House, but to 
the " notice served" upon him on the 16th Octo- 
ber, 1855, by Reeder, informing him of his pur- 
pose to " contest his right to a seat in the next 
Congress as Delegate of the Territory of Kansas. " 
Whitfield did reply on the 17th of the same month, 
and it is a reply, m my judgment, sir, upon the 
very face of which there is stamped the seal of 
truth and the evidence of facts as solid as they 
are convincing. , 

Well, sir, we do not know what was said or 
done in committee, or what documents or papers 
they had before them, upon which to form a 
proper and just conclusion. Many gentlemen 
believed, and the belief has become verified, that 
they (the majority) would report as they have 
done in asking " for power to send for persons 
and papers." Such a result was anticipated when 
the " (fase" was referred to them, and it is now 
before us as the subject of discussion. To the 
argument of the gentleman from Ohio, it is my 
purpose to reply more specifically than to those 
who have preceded him; and by the line he has 
marked out for himself I shall endeavor to follow. 

No one doubts tliat " the fact is apparent" that 
either Reeder or Whitfield is here "in violation 
of the organic law of Kansas Territory." It is 
not necessary that the credulity of any one should, 
be taxed upon a point so plain, for it is, as the ' 
gentleman says, "self-evident." It is gratifying 
to know that the Territory has an organic law, 
and that under that law one or the other of the 
Delegates is the true one, and was elected as the 
law jn'cscribed. The question upon this issue is, 
who is the man, Reeder or Whitfield ? Who was 
elected in conformity to the organic law? Be it 
either, one of them is assuredly here as a violator 
of that law, and has consequently no show of 
evidence that lie is the rightful claimant of a seat 
upon this floor. By the organic law of the Ter- 
ritory, the mode of choosing a Delegate to Con- 



gress is set forth, and in conformity to the legis7 
lative enactments of the Territory the election 
was held on the first day of October, 1855. No 
one but General Whitfield was a candidate, and 
he was consequently declared duly elected, and 
bears with him the certificate of Governor Shan- 
non. Nine days after, and in open violation of all 
law, another election is held at a difiei-ent place; 
and by virtue of this pretended election is it that 
ex-Governor Reeder presents himself here as of 
right the Delegate. He brings no evidence of his 
election, nor does he claim to be here at all in con- 
formity to the organic law; but he presents him- 
self as a law-abiding citizen and an injured man. 
He tells us that the law under which Whitfield 
was elected was null and void, because the Legis- 
lative Assembly that passed it was itself an illegal 
body, and was not elected by the bonajide citizens 
and residents of the Territory. It Iras been called 
the creature of " fraud and violence — a band of 
usurpers," the offspring of a Missouri mob, and 
the fruit of border-ruffianism. And the majority 
of the Committee of Elections have now concluded 
to ask this House for " power to send for persons 
and papers," upon the bare memorial of a single 
man — not to ascertain whether Whitfield was duly 
elected, but to pi-ove by oral testimony that the 
Kansas Legislature was a barefaced and gigantic 
cheat. 

Nobody does dispute the fact, that two elections 
were held in Kansas last year for a territorial 
Delegate, or that one of these was in direct con- 
flict with the territorial law. The right existing 
under the organic law to elect but one Delegate, 
v/ilh the time and place set forth, it follov/s that 
a second election, at another time and place, must 
be fraudulent. JSy statute, Whitfield was duly 
chosen on the 1st of October. Upon his men mo- 
tion, Reeder asserts that he was chosen on the 
3;h, and v/ithout any regard to law whatever. 
There can be no controversy, then, as to icho\ 
eomes here " by authority," hut we are to question 
the validity of that authority, and to test it, by 
assenting to the very bold ^nd extraordinary 
requisition to send for persons and papers. The 
Territorial Legislature are charged as a "band' 
of usurpers," and all their laws denounced as 
invalid. But by whom is this charge made.-' It 
does not come from the people of Kansas, or from 
any authorized body in their behaJf, but it comes 
from their former Governor — from him who had 
sanctioned and given existence to that very Legis- 
lature and vitality to their laws. It comes from 
him who was the sole judge of the legality of 1 
each member's election, and who recognized the 
legislative body as unquestionably lav.'ful by ad- [ 
dressiiig to it formal executive communications. ; 
Well has it been said, sir, by a distinguished 
Senator in tiie otherendof the Capitol, that Gov- j 
ernor Reeder went to Kansas " under the author- 1 
ity of a law of Congress regularly constituting 
a territorial government." He v;as sent there to 
be its Governor, and to carry out every provision [ 
of that law, just as though the Missouri line had 
never been repealed. He received his commis- 
sion as a tenant under a landlord, and had no right 
to dispute his landlord's title. He was placed , 



there as a sentinel; but what was his course? 
He first called the Legislature together at Pawnee 
City. It was a remote town site., for there was 
no town there; hence the inference is irresistible, 
that from his interest as part owner of the locality, 
he desired to make it the temporary seat of gov- 
ernment, and thus call for an expenditure of the 
public money which would be a benefit to him 
ni his speculative arrangements. There were no 
houses or even rooms in which the Legislature 
could properly nu;et. Even the necessaries o( life, 
j to say nothing of its comforts, were almost wholly 
I wanting. Under such circumstances, what did 
I the legislative body do .' They adjourned to a 
I more suitable and convenient place, where the 
wants of its members could be better supplied. 
I Governor Reeder refused to sanction the adjourn- 
! ment, and vetoed the very first bill passed by the 
I Legislature at the Shawnee Mission. He refused 
: to maintain the authority conferred on him, and 
j being wherfe he was under the sanction of law, 
! he was in a position to do much good or great 
|*evil,and he cliose the latter. " He was the trusted 
[ officer on the quarter-deck, in a storm, and by his 
judgment might save the vessel." He refused 
to fulfill that solemn trust, refused to do his duty, 
! and thus gave rise to bitter and fearful trials. He 
placed himself in open rebellion fo his own author- 
ity, denied the validity of the whole code of ter- 
ritorial laws, and so demeaned himself in incon- 
sistency and mischief, that his removal by the 
President became a matter of necessity. 

Before ex-Governor Reeder left PCansas, he'* 
caused a notice to be served on General Whit- 
field, " that he should contest his right to a seat" 
in this Congress as the territorial Delegate. But, 
says the gentleman from Ohio, Reeder " is not 
a contestant at all;" he has only come here to 
claim a scat for himself, by virtue of an election 
held at the " Big Springs," in Kansas, on the 
9th of October, 1855. The 1st of October was 
the day prescribed by law for that purpose, and, 
in conformity to that law, an election for Delegate 
was held, and Whitfield elected icithout opposi- 
tion. Sir, the gentleman from Ohio well asks, if 
any man is tq be told that the people of Kansas 
assembled on the first day of October last and cast 
their votes for the sitting Delegate, and then went 
through the farce, only eight days after, of again 
casting their votes for his opponent.' No man, 
sir, (says he,) can be made to believe that. No, 
sir, no man does believe it. But many thousands 
believe, sir, that a sham election was held on the 
9th of October, not only without color of law, but 
in direct violation of it; and that at swc/i an election 
Mr. Reeder got the votes of the emigrant fiid 
society men. It docs not matter how many, for 
ten thousand could not give validity to' so disor- 
ganizing and lawless a proceeding. "In one or 
the other of these elections," says the gentleman 
from Ohio, "the organic law of the Territory 
was wantonly trampled on and disregarded;" and 
there is no douljt of it. 

For what jiurpose, sir, have the majority ofthe 

Committee of Elections asked authority of this 

! House to send to Kansas for persons and papers.' 

It is, saj's tlie gentleman from Ohio, whether or 



not General Whitfield was chosen by the people 
of Kansas, or by an invading and conquering 
army. It is, says lie again, to ascertain if the 
sitting IV'kgate is here Mathout the popular con- 
sent, and in violation of law by lawless invaders. 
It is to discover " whether he is here by the de- 
cision of the sword, and not of the ballot." To 
solve titese mysteries, the committee have resolved 
to ask for'a plenitude of power, and if by thoir 
report, says the geiitleman, no " probable case'' 
is made out, then he admits the power " ought 
not to be conferred. ' ' The legality of Whitfield 's 
election is here made the basis of the report of the 
rnajority of the committee, but the minority aver, 
ancl I think correctly, that the power to send for 
persons and papers is designed to operate in a 
very different manner; and that it is- to test the 
validity of the Territorial Legislaiure, and tlie laws 
passed hi) it, that we are to give this committee 
what they have asked for. If the question in- 
volved only the rights of General Whitfield or 
Governor Reeder to a §?eat in this body, it would^ 
be of very little importance to the public. But it 
extends very far beyond this; even to the exist- 
ence or non-existence of the Kansas Legislature 
and her laws. General Whitfield claims to have 
been elected under the authority of that body. 
Governor Reeder claims to have been elected 
under the authority of n volunteer convention held 
at Topeka in- defiance of the Legislxdure and its 
laws. If the Legislature was not a legal body, its 
.acts are clearly void, and among them the law 
for the election of a Delegate to Congress, and 
also the election itself. If, on the other hand, 
that Legislature teas a legal body, then its acts 
are binding upon the people of the Territory, in- 
cluding the act for the election of their Delegate; 
and consequently the election of General Whit- 
field can only be successfully combated by'show- 
ing that some other person received a greater num- 
ber of legal votes at the election so appointed; and 
I apprehend neither Governor Reeder nor any- 
body else will undertake to show any such thing, 
for it is an impossibility. That the Legislature 
was a legal body, the present contestant, (for he 
calls_ himself such,) Governor Reeder, practically 
admitted, in the most solemn manner, under cir- 
cumstances much less likely to prejudice his 
judgment than those which now surround him, 
by giving to the majority of members certificates 
of election, and subsequently by sending messages 
to thenl as the legislative body. The Nebraska- 
Kansas law, made it his duty, as Governor of the 
Territory, to declare " tjie persons having the 
highest number of legal votes in each election dis- 
trict to be duly elected." This, ex necessitate, in - 
eluded the duty of determiliing who, in eacli of the 
districts,' had the highest number of legal votes. 
And he, Governor Reeder, did so determine it in 
a majority of the districts, and declared the re- 
sult as I have before stated. He now comes for- 
v>-ard, and virtually, if not modestly, asks this 
House to annul his oivn acts, both of omission and 
commission ! As the orlicial agent of Congress, 
he assisted in creating and giving validity to the 
Legislature of the Territory, and then recognized 
it by repeated acts of acknowledgment; but now, 



-note, sir, in the fixce of all this, ho claims that it 
was no Legislature at all, and leaves us to render 
a verdict upon his conduct, as either in violation of 
his own sanctions of territorial law, or utterly 
inexcusable as a dereliction of duty. I believe, 
sir, it was one or the other. His official acts, 
as Governor of Kansane, were, in effect, the^acts 
of the national Government. His saaiction of 
the Kansas "Legislature was, in effect, its sanc- 
tion by Congress and the Executive. jfThe 
enactments of that Legislature have been, by the 
United States judges within the Territory, pro- 
nounced, as a whole, constitutionally passed. 
The President of the United States has issued hia 
proclamation to the effect that he recognizes them 
as the laws of the Territory until repealed, and 
the authorities appointed under the Nebraska 
law as the government of the Territory until reg- 
ularly superseded. Under these circumstances, 
for Governor Reeder, or a committee of Con- 
gress, to pretend that the Legislature of Kansas 
was not a Legislature, and that its enactments 
are not, and never were, laios, is, in myjudgment, 
sir, but little less thau a ridiculous farce. It may 
bo competent, sir, for Congress {not the House of 
Representatives) to annul any or all the laws 
passed by the Kansas Legislature; but of what 
avail will this be for Governor Reeder in refe»-. 
ence to what he now claims.' If such an annul- 
ment were now effected, it would only prove, by 
the strongest implication, that they had been in 
full force until annulled, and that, as a conse- 
quence, his clainj to sit, as the Delegate, is with- 
out the slightest foundation. So, if the Legis- 
lature of Kansas was a legal body, and its 
enactments valid, then the convention at Topeka, 
and the election of territorial officers' iinder its 
auspices, was a base and shameless usurpation, 
and all attempts to support it by force neitlier 
niore or less than treason. 

Mr. Speaker, in the remarks which I have pre- 
sented to the notice of the House, it is apparent 
that 1 have not presumed to settle points of law, 
or indeed to engage at all in a legal argument, as 
it may or may not be applicable to this Kansas 
controversy. Other gentlemen have done tb'is 
with abiuidant clearness and force ; and especially 
to my honorable friend: from Maryland do I feel 
indebted for satisfying my mind upon that branch 
of the subject. I address myself to the House 
under a deep sense of my inability to do justice 
to the topic of discussion as wo have had it 
reviewed, and quite convinced that I have fallen 
far short of giving expression to the fullness of 
my thoughts, my feelings, and my convictions. 
Let it be remembered, sir, that I a.m almost alone, 
in the large delegation from the State of New 
York, in opposing the very spirit and letter of 
the resolution introduced by the honorable gen- 
tleman from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Hickman,] and 
that by no vote of mine shall there be aid and 
comfort given to this new species of representa- 
tive inquisition. To my mind, no case has beeh 
presented calling for any such grant of intermed- 
dling authority. Nobody complains but he who 
was once Governor of "Kansas, and especially 
charged with the care and protection of her infant 



settlements. By and through him has there 
come over that far-ofl" Territory tlie dark shadow 
of evil and the almost calamitous issue of civil 
war. False to himself and the high dignity of 
h;s official position, he planted the seeds of dis- 
cord, anarchy, and confusion, but was not per- 
mitted to stay to reap the fruit. Removed from 
his ofKcc, chagrined, mortified, and vexed, he 
moodily determines on revenge ; but not the re- 
venge of the noble-minded and generous heart; 
i-ather call it the studied effort of a deep design, 
born and nurtured in the dark corners of the 
mind, and here exposed to the full light of open 
day. 

Mr. Speaker, it has become a familiar maxim, 
and it is full of truth and meaning, that "coming 
events cast their shadows before." The times 
are full ofalarming(5mens, and the political lagos 
of the day are fast hastening us into startling 
contingencies.* Not content with countless bless- 
ings in the most enlightened country on the face 
of the earth, not satisfied with privileges unex- 
ampled and immunities of a greater latitude than 
any people ever enjoyed, the wisdom of the 
children of the present day has become greater 
than that of the fathers of the Republic; and now 
they ask for the reasons for the faith that was in 
them. Sad indeed, sir, is the thought that our 
great constitutional expounders have passed away ; 
and no longer do we hear tjieir warning voices, 
though, being dead, they yet speak in silent whis- 



pers to our very hearts. Let them be heard and 
heeded, for the admonition comes to us from the 
graves of the illustrious exemplars of departed 
greatness. 

Our hopes and fears may well start up alarmed 
at all the solemn mockeries of legislation, both 
State and Natioiiol, now forced upon the country 
by the political pigmies whom chance hasbrought 
to the surface in the seething cauldron of party 
zeal. And where are we to look for safety— upon 
whom call for aid when the hour of trial comes .' 
Where but to the American people, and to them 
we must appeal. Could they Jcnoiv the truth, this 
Kansas question had never been agitated, or the 
resolution presented have which is founded solely 
upon the unsustained word of a single man. I 
do not believe, sir, that a solitary member of this 
body desires to "stifle inquiry" or sup2:)ress in- 
vestigation where it is proper and right. But, 
sir, I am of an opinion that the committee ask for 
too much, and, therefore, by my vote v/ill I re- 
fuse to sanction their extraordinary request. I 
would suppress agitation and the falsehoods upon 
which it feeds, and thus destroy the vocation of 
our modern political charlatans, and their vora- 
cious appetite for lying — under wonderful mis- 
takes. 

• I thank the House for its patient hearing, and 
only regret that I have been unable fto render 
the subject the full merit of the justice it de- 
serves. 





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016 094 463 8 



Conservation Resources 



